The picture could not be more wrong. After all the hype and the great yet unpredictable year in music 2011 was, I must admit that I was excited to see the 54th Grammy Awards this year. I was so disappointed by the end of the night. From short tributes, lip synching, missing categories, an exorcism, and performances that lasted just too damn long, this years Grammy's failed to deliver a well rounded award show broadcasting the different successes in music.
I should have known that the opening act would have set the tone for the rest of the night. Bruce Springsteen opened the show with a live and high energy rendition of "This Depression." Although he is a legend and will forever be a musical icon, it seemed as though the performance lasted a bit too long and started to wear him down a bit. I am a fan of Springsteen and can appreciate his energy but I think maybe he was a little overzealous.
Following Springsteen's performance, LL gave a genuinely touching speech for Whitney Houston (passed the day before) and led into a moment of silence. He did not have any punchlines or any snide jokes to tell because the passing of such an icon made it impossible to make light of the night. When all was said and done, he quickly introduced Bruno Mars for a great, upbeat and well rehearsed performance that seemed to lighten the somber mood. Channeling James Brown meets Elvis Presley with a little less soul, Bruno delivered a great 50's themed medley of "Runaway Baby" complete with choreography from the whole band. This was by far one of the best and controlled performances of the night. His voice was great, the sound was on point, and the music was perfect to get people out of their seats.
Although Bruno did the damn thing, the rest of the night did not continue with the same excitement or energy. With a list of star studded performances including Rihanna and Coldplay, Chris Brown's lip synching and awkward dancing return to the Grammy stage, a brief and forgettable Etta James tribute, multiple country performances, and a Beach Boys tribute that finished with their return to the stage. What was interesting to me was the elimination of many of the categories televised on the show and the overbearing hype of each and every performance that soon became old and stale after the first 2 hours of the show. There were a lot of wtf moments mixed in with "will they move..." I would say that the Grammys this year made sure to focus on Adele, performances, and commercials that would rival the superbowl in originality, quantity/duration, and humor.
Adele's return to the stage from her throat injury and she killed it. One of the best performances of the night.
A Soul Train Don Cornelius half assed tribute/ performance from Chris Brown, Foo Fighters, Lil Wayne, David Guetta, and DJ legend DeadMau5
Rihanna and Coldplay performace...Rihanna really delivered and Chris Martin was a little off key
Chris Brown performance medley...Chris seemed to have run out of breath during the "Beautiful People" song and began lip synching and hopping on the lego-looking stage pieces. Not his best performances but not a fail.
Taylor Swift brings a hoe down on stage with her bango and gang. "Mean" is clearly directed toward her Kanye incident but really its 2 years past now, let it go and move on. Nobody likes when people play the victim all the time, Taylor.
Nicki Minaj "roman Holiday"- 0_o?? basically was everyone's face during this over the top and laughable performance. Bad acting aside, Nicki has become a parody of herself and seems to try and copy then out-do other artists *cough* lady gaga *cough* but takes it too far and fails. I was laughing so hard at this performance that I was brought to tears. Words can not even describe how silly this was. What makes it even worse is that besides all the gimmicks, the song actually sounds pretty decent.
For music's biggest night, I was highly disappointed by some of the winners and lackluster tribute to the late Whitney Houston, Etta James, and the lack of a tribute to Amy Whinehouse. I know that she passed the night before, leaving the producers in a state of panic for what they should do to commemorate her musical career but luckily they were able to pull Jennifer Hudson from singing about Weight Watchers to deliver a powerful and tear jerking (if I was emotional) rendition of Whitney's greatest and most distinct hit "I Will Always Love You." Although Hudson was great and looked very Dreamgirl inspired, one thing that irritated me was the fact that they cut the song short. Her tribute seemed to only last a little over a minute and she did not even deliver the classic part of the song by hitting the high note and blowing everyone away. And to add insult to the tribute, they gave Chris Brown, Paul Mccartney, and Foo Fighters more than one chance to perform. I feel as though, as a producer, someone should have stepped in and cut maybe one of the performances short or even out of the program to give a proper tribute to a woman who has changes the image popular music in America and whose one-of-a-kind voice has inspired and paved the way for many acts today. Guess BET will have to do the late singer justice and deliver something memorable.
Beach Boys tribute performance
List of Winners:
Record of the Year: Adele-"Rolling in the Deep" (21)...not a surprise at all, this was her year and her night. With the recovering throat surgery as well, Adele was certain to wind big.
Album of the Year: Adele-21
Song of the year: "Rolling in the Deep"-Adele- seriously could not have gone anywhere without hearing this song. It stayed at #1
Best New artist: Bon Iver...now I am not so sure who he is other than the guy featured on a Kanye's album but he must be good enough to beat out J.Cole. I am not surprised that it was an alternative artist to take it, but I will be surprised to see if he is ever nominated for anything again.
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Someone Like You"-Adele...no comment...
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Body and Soul" Tony Bennett and Amy Whinehouse
Best Pop Vocal Album: 21-Adele
Best Dance Recording: Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites-Skrillex...has been on the up an coming for awhile and this was a close call but well deserved
Best Dance Album" Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites-Skirllex
Best Rock Performance: "Walk"-Foo Fighters
Best Hard Rock performance: "White Limo" Foo Fighters...uh ok
Best Rock Song: "Walk" Foo Fighters...um ok, nice variety
Best Rock Album: Walk-Foo Fighters
Best R&B performance: Is this love-Corinne Bailey Rae
Best R&B song: "Fool For you"- Cee-Lo and Melanie Fiona
Best R&B album: Chris Brown "Fame"...wow. Is this people's choice or is there an actual committee?
Best Rap Performance: "Otis" Kanye West and Jay-Z
Best Rap Song: "All of the Lights" Kanye West
Best Rap Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy-Kanye West...well deserved, too bad he wasn't there though
Best Country Album: Into the Night-Lady antebellum
As for the other awards that were not televised, they can be seen on the grammy's homepage under the "winners" tab.
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